The US House of Representatives passed the “US Blockchain Deployment 2023” bill on May 15 by a vote of 334-79, giving the Department of Commerce a role in promoting blockchain technology. The bill received support from both parties.
The bill was co-introduced by Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Larry Bucshon, who have no previous involvement with blockchain or cryptocurrencies.
This bipartisan bill directs Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to take necessary and appropriate actions to promote U.S. competitiveness in blockchain or other distributed ledger technology. .
The bill also designates the Secretary of Commerce as the President's principal advisor on blockchain and gives the Secretary certain responsibilities such as policy development, research, and promotion of the technology. At the same time, it is required to establish an advisory committee for the Minister, including representatives of the government, industry, academia, and culture, and is responsible for reporting annually to the National Assembly.
US Blockchain Implementation Bill of 2023. Source: Congress.gov
However, the bill also faced opposition from a number of lawmakers, including cryptocurrency skeptics like Sean Casten, Bill Foster and Brad Sherman, along with Sen. Cynthia Lummis's colleague Harriet Hageman ( cryptocurrency advocates).
Congressman Casten was also the leader, along with Sherman, Foster, and several others, of proposing the Blockchain Integrity Bill, introduced in the House of Representatives last May 7 to ban the use of “mixing” services. cryptocurrencies for two years, while the Treasury Department is still evaluating them. Currently, the bill has not yet been put to a vote.
On the same day, the House of Representatives also passed two other bills related to blockchain, the “Consumer Safety Technology Bill” and the “Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Bill.” All will be forwarded to the Senate for consideration.
There are currently about 50 bills affecting cryptocurrencies under consideration at various stages in the US Congress.